Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
This invention relates to yard hydrants, and in particular to a device for simplifying the replacement of yard hydrants.
Yard hydrants are freezeproof devices for supplying water to outdoor locations such as farmyards, suburban lawns, and gardens. They have been in widespread use for many decades, and their basic construction has not changed for over half a century. Typical examples are shown in Anderson, U.S. Pat. No. 2,649,111, Anderson, U.S. Pat. No. 2,649,768, Staben, U.S. Pat. No. 2,730,326, Noland et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,070,116, Anderson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,372,339, and Anderson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,289,840. Commercial yard hydrants are widely available and include, for example, Kupferle Foundry Company Models 903 and 909, Woodford Mfg. Model Y34 (Form No. Y34.101, Rev. December 1999), Mansfield Plumbing Products YH-(Form No. 800, August 2001), and Merrill Manufacturing Co., Any Flow (Form 2003.6, issued August 1999). These patents and documents are incorporated herein by reference.
Yard hydrants typically have a self-draining valve body buried in the ground below the frost line, a generally vertical standpipe mounted to the valve body, and an actuator head at the top of the pipe above the ground. Water flows from the buried valve body through the standpipe, and through a spout in the head. A valve in the valve body is attached by a rod extending through the pipe to an actuator device, commonly a lever or a rotatable faucet handle, in the head. In the simplest form of a yard hydrant, the valve is a plunger and the valve body includes a threaded drain hole in a side wall. When the plunger is seated on the valve seat in closed position, the drain hole permits water to drain out of the pipe into the ground. When the valve is open, the plunger seals the drain hole.
Many styles of yard hydrants are in use. They typically include a cast lower valve body having a fitting for threading the lower valve body onto a water supply pipe. The supply pipe is usually an externally threaded 0.5xe2x80x3 to 1.5xe2x80x3 pipe, most commonly a 0.75xe2x80x3 or 1xe2x80x3 vertical pipe or nipple extending upwardly from a generally horizontal piping system. The cast lower valve body also includes a valve seat, a vertical by-pass passage for water to flow around the plunger when the plunger is raised from the valve seat, and an internally threaded fitting for threading the standpipe into the valve body.
The plunger is sized to expose the drain hole when the plunger seated on the valve seat, but to cover and seal it when the plunger is raised a short distance off the valve seat.
The standpipe is typically a 0.5xe2x80x3 to 1.5xe2x80x3 pipe, most commonly a 1xe2x80x3 or 1.25xe2x80x3 pipe, externally threaded at its ends. The standpipe may be from one foot long to over ten feet long, its length being dependent on the depth of the frostline and the height of the head above the ground.
The actuator rod or valve stem is frequently made in two pieces, connected by an adjustment collar.
The head of a yard hydrant is typically made of cast metal, having an internally threaded inlet fitting for the upper end of the standpipe, an outlet spout, and a water passage through the head body between the inlet and spout. The head also typically includes a packing through which the actuator rod extends to a connection to an external lever.
The actuator rod and plunger valve of a yard hydrant typically can be removed and replaced without digging up the yard hydrant, by unscrewing the head from the standpipe. If, however, the valve becomes stuck in the valve body, or if the actuator rod breaks deep within the standpipe, or if the valve seat is damaged, the yard hydrant must be dug up. The deeper the valve body is buried, the more cumbersome this job becomes. In some installations, such as when the yard hydrant standpipe has been encased in a concrete floor of a garden center, removing the yard hydrant for repair or replacement is almost impossible. Further, because yard hydrants are generally inexpensive, even the labor required for making repairs in the accessible internal parts may be more costly than the value of the hydrant.
Briefly stated, the present invention provides a device and method for installing yard hydrants which renders the yard hydrant easily installed and replaced.
The device of the invention comprises a buried adapter, a sleeve, and a cap.
The buried adapter has an inlet for attachment to a buried water system pipe, an outlet for attachment to a valve body of a yard hydrant, a peripheral wall for attachment to a vertical sleeve, and a drain hole. The wall is preferably, but not necessarily, continuous and internally threaded. The drain is preferably threaded and is preferably toward the bottom of the peripheral wall. The inlet is preferably a female internally threaded fitting sized to thread onto the supply pipe. In the preferred embodiment, the inlet is substantially horizontal, to obviate the need for a vertical nipple on the supply pipe, although a vertical inlet centered in the body is also quite useable. The outlet is preferably a vertical externally threaded nipple centered with respect to the peripheral wall. In a preferred embodiment, the adapter is a casting having an internally threaded central opening into which the outlet nipple is threaded. The adapter forms one embodiment of the present invention.
The sleeve is preferably a pipe sized to receive the valve body of a yard hydrant. For a yard hydrant having a 1xe2x80x3 standpipe, a 2.5xe2x80x3 pipe is presently preferred. For a larger yard hydrant having a 1.25xe2x80x3 standpipe, a 4xe2x80x3 pipe may be needed. The sleeve is preferably externally threaded at its ends, to screw into the adapter and to provide an easy connection for the cap.
The cap functions to stabilize the upper end of the yard hydrant. It also may cover the top of the sleeve, for environmental protection, and may inhibit loosening or removing the sleeve or the yard hydrant. An illustrative form of the cap includes an internally threaded collar which is screwed onto the top of the sleeve. The collar includes an outwardly turned flange with flats at opposed sides. A split cover includes two cover pieces, each having an upturned flange with semi-cylindrical recesses which clamp the standpipe of the yard hydrant between them. Slight flats on the recesses provide a positive clamping force on the standpipe when the cover pieces are bolted together. Other cap designs are known in the art. The preferred cap also forms an embodiment of the present invention.
The method of the invention for installing a yard hydrant includes attaching the adapter to the water supply pipe, attaching the sleeve to the adapter, burying the adapter and sleeve, attaching the yard hydrant to the adapter, and attaching the cap to the standpipe of the yard hydrant. The method of removing the yard hydrant includes removing the cap from its clamping relationship to the standpipe, and then unscrewing and removing the standpipe and valve body from the adapter.